


Crossroads of Destiny

by TheNightFury



Category: Star Wars Rebels
Genre: Eventual Kalluzeb, M/M, Post Malachor, redemption arch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-07-24 00:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7486617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNightFury/pseuds/TheNightFury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He could only live in denial for so long, only convince himself for so long that he was fighting on the right side. Agent Kallus's eyes where opened to the horrors of the Empire, and their was no going back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wondering for awhile if I should post this or not, but I eventually decided to just post and see if people like it or not. Anyways enjoy!

Kallus knew what he was about to do was treason and if, when most likely, he was caught he would be severely punished for his crimes. Though he knew the consequences he could no longer idly sit by and let the Empire continue to torment innocent people. He had once thought the Empire was great, he knew they had done terrible things, he had been the one to do some of those terrible things, but he'd told himself the ends justified the means. That terrible people deserves the punishment they got. That the suffering of a few was justified in keeping order and peace for the rest of the Empire. He'd never been more wrong in his entire life.

After his trip on Bahryn with Zeb he'd tried to ignore his words, tried to pretend there was nothing the Empire was doing that was wrong that he was a rebel who only wanted to cause destruction and chaos, but he could only fool himself for so long though. Curiosity got the better of him so he started doing some digging, looking in places he really didn't need to, trying to assure himself that the empire was good and right and the rebels where wrong. The deeper he dug though, the more he realized that the rebels where really the ones who were right. They were the ones trying to keep peace and justice, not the empire like he's so firmly believed for so long.

He knew the rebels might not believe him and ignore his warnings, but he had to try. Nothing he did could make up for all of the suffering he caused but he could no longer sit back and let innocents suffer, no matter the consequences.

\-----

Zeb contently took a long gulp of his drink, setting the cup down on the table with a loud thunk. Though he hated sitting and waiting for informants to finally show up, he did appreciate having an excuse to buy a few drinks. 

A part of Zeb wondered if this was a good idea, this informant contacted them saying he had vital information that could save a lot of lives, but insisted he would only hand it over to Zeb. Why he insisted that only Zeb get this information had the entire crew baffled, and initially Hera did not want to take the mission; it was too risky and could very well be a trap. Commander Sato however felt that they could not ignore this, if this person really did have crucial information they had to do whatever it took to get it and, very reluctantly, Zeb agreed. If this information really could save innocent people’s lives, how could they say no?

As much as he tried to convince himself that this was the right decision, Zeb couldn’t help but feel uneasy as he sat in the bar waiting for what seemed like an eternity. Who was this informant? What kind of information could they have? Why did they insist on only sharing with Zeb? These questions and a thousand more flew through Zeb’s mind as he downed another drink. 

Zeb ducked his head down when he saw a pair of storm troopers walk into the bar. Their where way too many Imperials around for Zeb’s liking. If this informant didn’t show up in the next ten minutes he was leaving, the longer he stayed the more likely he’d be caught. 

“Garazeb Orrelios?” A cloaked figure asked, startling him. 

“…what makes you think I’m him?” Zeb asked, suspiciously eyeing the cloaked man. 

“There are not very many Lasat still around now are their?” the man said, sitting down across from him. “Not to mention you and your crew are becoming more and more known across the empire.”

“Fine but don’t call me that, call me Zeb,” Zeb reluctantly said. “And what can I call you?”

“I’d rather not share my name,” the man said. 

“You’re willing to give us information but not your name?” Zeb asked. 

“I’m not your informant, I’m just the messenger,” the man said. 

“Who is the real informant then?”

“I was not given a name,” the man said. “Only this.” Setting a meteorite on the table, the very same one he’d given Kallus back on Bahryn. 

“…what is it you have?” Zeb asked. 

The man pulled out a small holodisk and slid it over to Zeb saying, “Just this. My informant asked that only you be the one to listen to it.”

For a moment Zeb hesitated, what if it was a trap to try and kill Zeb? He immediately disregarded the thought. No, Kallus would not do something like this, he had more honor then that. 

“Alright,” Zeb said, taking the holodisk. 

“We’ll be in touch,” the man said, standing up and abruptly left. 

Zeb paid for the drinks and also left the bar and pulled out his comm link saying, “Specter 4 to Spector 1 I have the Intel.” 

“Copy that Specter 4,” Kanan said. “We’ll pick you up soon.”

\-----

“I just don’t understand why this informant want’s only you to know the information,” Hera uncertainly said. 

“They’re not sure who all they can trust,” Zeb explained, or that’s what he assumed was Kallus’s reasoning for the secrecy and he couldn’t exactly blame him. They would insist he discard any information given to him through Kallus, they had no reason to trust the ISB Agent yet. 

“How do we know we can trust them?” Hera asked. 

“I don’t think we can,” Sabine said before Zeb could respond. “Not with so much secrecy.”

“Well maybe they are trying to make sure the Empire won’t find out what they’re doing.” Ezra offered. 

“Yea bu-“

“Zeb, do you trust this person?” Kanan asked. Without hesitation Zeb said,

“Yea, I do.” Zeb wasn’t entire sure why he trusted Kallus so much- he had spent so much time trying to kill them. But, something in Zeb told him Kallus had changed after their trip to Bahryn, he saw the Empire for what it was now. Zeb was certain he was on their side now. 

“Then that’s good enough for me,” Kanan said. 

\----

When Zeb was finally able to get some privacy, he found he couldn’t bring himself to open the message in his hand. He was fairly certain Kallus really did mean them no harm and wanted to help, but there was still a part of him that couldn’t bring himself to listen to the message. What was he afraid of? Taking a deep breath to calm himself Zeb started the message.

“Hello Zeb, I hope this finds you well.” Kallus said, “I know it has been awhile since we were on Bahryn together and I have no excuse really for taking so long other then I really did not want to believe that the Empire could be wrong. I stubbornly believed that the Empire where the one’s who were trying to protect and bring peace. You opened my eyes though to the truth, even if I didn’t want to see it at first. I can no longer deny the truth though, the Empire has done horrible things for no other reason than they know they can. I know nothing I do can ever even come close to making up for what I have done and I have made peace with that. I also know the rebellion would never trust me, but I still want to help. I hope you are willing to believe that I mean no harm, but I understand if you don’t. Regardless, I leave you with the coordinates of slaves that are going to be transferred. I wish you the best of luck.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting this guys! Things got a little crazy for me but I'm back and hopefully will be updating more often!

“I really hope this informant is right…” Sabine muttered as the Ghost exited hyperspace. Once the message had finished Zeb took the disk to the others to extract the coordinates and other crucial information for the mission. When they discovered the ship as set to leave in less than two hours the group scrambled to come up with a plan to get on the ship, rescue the twi’leks, and get off. It was certainly not their greatest plan, but given the time constraints it would have to do.

“They are,” Zeb firmly said, though he knew it was ridiculous, Zeb knew he could trust Kallus was being honest. He was a man of honor, he wanted to bring peace and justice just like they did. He’d spent a lot of time on the wrong side of things but he saw the truth now, which was the important thing. 

“Is everyone ready?” Kanan calmly asked, silencing anymore arguments. 

“Yea, yea,” Ezra dismissively said, “Let’s do this!”

“Does everyone know the plan?” Kanan calmly but firmly asked. 

“It’s not that hard of a plan,” Sabine said. 

“If you can call this a plan,” Zeb muttered. Their ‘plan’ was to intercept the ship guns blazing and damage the hyper drive so they couldn’t get away, board the ship and get everyone off. Kanan was confident the plan would work as long as the transport was alone like their Intel claimed. 

“I see the ship!” Hera informed them. 

“Firing away!” Rex cried, shooting at the ship that was caught off guard by the sudden ambush. 

“The Empire is getting cocky,” Rex commented. “No ships escorting the transporter and weak shields? Sloppy!” 

“Let’s move before reinforcements arrive!” Kanan declared as the Ghost attached to the ship. Zeb, Ezra, Sabine, and Kanan boarded the ship, instantly taking down the troops that had come to intercept them. The group broke off into pairs, going opposite directions down the corridor. 

Kallus had been right, the ship was not guarded very well, and according to his message the Empire was focusing its efforts on something bigger leaving ships such as this one more vulnerable to attacks. Not that any of them where complaining, this would make it that much easier for them to rescue everyone. Zeb and Sabine raced to the control room, quickly taking out the pair of troopers inside before disabling the distress signal. 

“We’ve disabled the distress signal,” Sabine said into the comm link. 

“We’re at the holding cells,” Kanan assured. “Ezra’s opening the cells now.”

“Let’s get back to the Ghost,” Sabine said. Zeb firmly nodded and trailer behind her, scanning the halls for any sign of trouble. The halls where mercifully clear back to the Ghost, not a single Stormtrooper in sight. 

“I can’t believe it, this may go off without a hitch!” Sabine cried as they approached the Ghost.

“Don’t jinx it,” Zeb scolded, but hardly able to believe it either. A part of him had feared this might be some sort of trap; that Kallus would be waiting for them with an army of Stormtroopers to take them down. It seemed however that Kallus had been genuine in his desire to help the captured slaves. 

“Specter 1 to specter 2, specter 6 and I are incoming with the prisoners.” Kanan said over the comm link.

“Copy that,” Hera said. Seconds later Zeb spotted Ezra running towards them, a group of a dozen twi’leks following him. 

“Where’s Kanan?” Zeb asked. 

“He’s right behind us,” Ezra assured as he helped the twi’leks climb aboard the Ghost. 

“Everyone’s on board Hera!” Zeb said. 

“Copy that, we’re off,” Hera said, pulling away from the ship. “And just in time.” She added as reinforcements arrived. “Too late boys.” The ships started firing but the Ghost was already entering hyperspace. 

“We did it!” Sabine exclaimed, pulling off her helmet. “Looks like we really can trust Zeb’s new friend!”

“I told you!” Zeb exclaimed, a massive grin on his face.

“As long as this friend of yours keeps giving us good information I’m happy,” Kanan assured, patting Zeb’s back. 

_Good job Kallus._  
\-----

He knew he was doing the right thing, the Empire was doing horrific things to innocent people and the Rebels wanted to stop that. A dark part of Kallus’s mind though kept going back to Onderon, the terror and horror of watching his men being mercilessly slaughtered, the pain of being left to live when everyone has had been mercilessly killed. That night played in his mind over and over again, cruelly reminding him of the horrors the rebels have committed in the past. 

Kallus tried to shove the dark thoughts out of his mind and focus on the good, but they hovered in the corner of his mind, a constant reminder of his doubts. He should be happy though, over a dozen innocent people where saved from slavery thanks to the Rebels. He reminded himself of this over and over again, desperately trying to convince himself he was doing the right thing by helping the Rebels.

Kallus stifled a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling trying to sort through his thoughts. He knew that as of right now the Rebels where not the terrorists the Empire made them out to be, but he also knew they had committed unforgivable acts against the innocent as well. Neither side was free of guilt in this bloody war. Was there ever a war though where no innocent where hurt by either side? In the mist of war bloodshed was inevitable, he knew that. He hated the thought of going to war, but he couldn’t, wouldn’t, sit back idly while innocents suffered. 

Where the rebels though the solution? Where they any different from the Empire in their view of innocents? They didn’t seem bothered by killing Imperial Agents, and couldn’t many of those agents be people brainwashed much like he’d been? As frustrating as it was, even the Rebels hurt innocents. So why was he betraying the Empire for people who in the end might not be much better? Almost instantly Zeb flashed through his mind, the way he refused to kill him when he had the chance, the way he treated Kallus’s life like it mattered, unlike the Empire that saw him as nothing more than a replaceable part easily tossed aside and forgotten. 

An icy chill ran up Kallus’s spine at the thought, a stab of pang shooting up Kallus’s leg, the same one injured on Bahryn. He reached down and started rubbing his leg in the vain hope it would help with the pain some. None of the medical driods could tell him why his leg bothered him so much, everything healed properly and there was no sign of scarring that would affect his leg. They told him to take some pain medication and that he was fine to be working again. 

Kallus continued to rub his leg as the pain slowly subsided and the sudden cold dissipated as quickly as it had come. His mind wondered back to Zeb as the rest of his crew, how warmly they greeted him on Bahryn, how genuinely happy they were to find him not because he was useful but because he was their friend. The Empire rejected those types of feelings, they claimed love was a weakness, something that would only be used against you. After what had happened on Onderon Kallus had taken the lesson to heart, keeping his men at arm’s length, refusing to let himself become attached again in a desperate attempt to keep himself from getting hurt again. 

At first it worked, when one of his men fell in battle, it didn’t hurt like when the boys had been slaughtered on Onderon. Back on Bahryn though he might have died if not for Zeb firmly believing his friends would save him. He would have kept transmitting the signal only the Empire could see and would have frozen to death when no one came. Traders had come and found him about a day after Zeb had been found and kindly helped him recover from hypothermia, gave him some food and did their best to patch up his leg. 

With a cautious glance at the door, Kallus carefully removed the meteorite Zeb had given him from his breast pocket. Several times he had considered throwing it away, but he never could bring himself to throw the only gift he had ever received. Every time he looked at it, he was reminded of his time on Bahryn, of Zeb’s kindness towards him despite all he’d done. Despite how much he wanted to think otherwise, the Empire did not forgive mistakes, they killed people who disagreed with the Emperor without a second thought. They silenced anyone who questioned them or disobeyed an order, no matter how wrong it was.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts, quickly hiding the meteorite in his pocket before calmly saying,

“Enter.” 

“Grand Moff Tarkin wishes to see you,” the Stormtrooper calmly informed him. 

“Yes, thank you,” Kallus said, standing up and exiting his office, his calm mask in place. He may have his doubts about the rebel alliance as a whole, but he firmly believed Zeb was a good man and wanted to do good for everyone. As long as he could he would help Zeb protect the innocents the Empire would slaughter in its greed.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few months passed by in a blur for Kallus, his routine remained the same, only now he was slipping crucial information to the Rebels. At first he was afraid it would be difficult to keep anyone off of his trail. Sooner or later someone had to suspect something was amiss….right? Time and time again however Kallus was easily able to keep anyone from even suspecting he had anything to do with the leaks. It was almost laughably easy to make every suspect anyone but himself. No matter how easily it was, Kallus couldn’t let himself get lazy, if he left even the slightest clue he was involved it would all be over….

Some urgently knocked on the door, startling him out of his thoughts. “Enter,” Kallus calmly said. One of his men stepped in saying,

“Sir we’ve found the man responsible for leaking information to the rebels!” Kallus’s heart froze in his chest, for an irrational al moment thinking they knew he’d been giving information to the rebels but shoved the thought away. If they knew it was him there would be a whole squadron of Stormtroopers in his office already. “His name is Evan Ward.” How had they managed to track down his messenger? That didn’t matter now, he had to find a way to get him out without the Empire realizing he was helping him or was involved with him in any way.

“Good, bring him down to the interigatio-“ Agent Kallus began.

“He’s dead sir,” the trooper informed him.

“Dead?” Kallus echoed, suppressing a shudder. 

“Yes sir,” the trooper said, “we cornered him but he tried to run so-“

“How could you do something so idiotic?” Kallus snapped. 

“Sir? He was a traitor-“ he said. 

“Did he work for the Empire?” Kallus calmly asked. 

“He was an ordinary citizen bu-“

“So how could he have gotten that information without help from someone on the inside?” Kallus asked, “With him dead we have no way of finding the real leak.”

“Agent Kallus is right,” Tarkin coldly informed them.

“Grand Moff Tarkin,” Agent Kallus greeted, standing up.

Tarkin ignored Kallus and continued, “With Mr. Ward dead we have no way of finding the real traitor.”

“I’m sorry si-“

“Failure will not be tolerated,” Tarkin interrupted. “Agent Kallus, do not fail me.”

“I won’t,” Kallus assured. With a nod Tarkin and the trooper left leaving Kallus in turmoil. He was only trying to help people, but another innocent man’s blood was on his hands. How many more innocent people would have to die because of him? Sighing heavily, Kallus collapsed back into his chair. How would he get information to the rebels now? There was no way he’d even think about hiring another person to deliver his information, the risk of them being killed or worse was too great. No, he would have to find a way to personally get the information to the rebels, he would not let any more innocent people die because of him. 

\-----

As usual, Zeb received a set of coordinates from whoever Kallus’s messenger was along with a date and time. They never met in the same place twice, most likely to keep the Empire from finding and capturing them. Though so far the informant had always given good information, the rest of his crew was weary that they might suddenly turn on the Rebels and that one of these meetings might turn into a trap. Zeb however highly doubted that, Kallus may have his faults but he would never set such a dirty trap. Not that Zeb thought even for a moment any longer Kallus would really hunt the Rebels. Sure he’d led several missions, but more times than not he’d give up the chase a little early or turn a blind eye to something that might have hinted their presence. No, Kallus had changed for the better, but for some reason he didn’t want anyone but Zeb to know it. 

At first, Zeb had thought Kallus’s reluctance to let others know he was helping the rebels was because he feared no one would believe he was sincere. But as time passed and the crew reluctantly started to think maybe this informant might be on their side, he still refuses to let anyone but Zeb know it was him giving the information making Zeb start to wonder if there was something else going on, something keeping him from wanting anyone else to know. What if something happened though and Zeb was killed on a mission? How would he pass information onto the rebels? Without Zeb to vouch for him, the crew would never believe he was on their side. What would he do then?

Now wasn’t the time however to dwell on that, he needed to focus on finding Kallus’s messenger and getting the information back to Commander Sato. Zeb slowly made his way towards the coordinates he’d been sent, carefully evading the Storm Troopers that patrolled the streets. He didn’t want to alert the Empire to his presence sooner then he needed to. The buildings around him slowly became more rundown and uncared for as he entered the more questionable parts of town. Zeb however was unsurprised by this, it was much easier to blend in when everyone around you was acting suspiciously. The Empire tended to turn a blind eye to black market dealers, more often than not the Empire itself buying from said black market dealers. The coordinates eventually led Zeb to a rundown hotel, most likely a place where black market deals and other unsavory activities occurred behind closed doors. Zeb casually made his way to the front desk saying,

“I have a reservation under the name Bayr Ren.”

“Third floor, second room on the left,” The man behind the counter dismissively said. Zeb nodded and made his way to the stairs up to the third floor, tentatively opening the door to the room the man had indicated. When he pushed open the door, he expected to find Kallus’s messenger standing in the room, but instead he found himself staring at Agent Kallus himself. 

“Kallus!” Zeb gasped, freezing in the doorway, eyes scanning for any sign of Storm Troopers or any sort of danger. 

“Shh!” Kallus hissed. “Do you want everyone to know I’m here?”

“Right,” Zeb mumbled, walking into the room and closing the door behind him when he saw no immediate threats. “What are you doing here?”

“My messenger was discovered and killed,” Kallus explained, his face morphing into an expression of pain and guilt, “They didn’t even give him a chance….”

“I’m sorry,” Zeb said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, choosing not to mention the thousands of lives killed similarly, now was not the time for that. “But are you in any danger…?”

“For now, no,” Kallus said. “But I don’t want anyone else needlessly put at risk so from now on I will personally be delivering the information though it will mean I will not be able to send information as often-“

“Maybe this is a sign,” Zeb said. 

“What?” Kallus asked. 

“A sign you need to get out before you get caught,” Zeb clarified. “The Empire won’t show you any mercy if they find out you’ve been giving us information.”

“Your rebel friends need this information to help people,” Kallus said. “Besides, they would never accept me-“

“I would make them,” Zeb stubbornly said. “You’ve been giving us information that has helped a lot of people for months! That would count for something!”

“I would be useless there,” Kallus said. 

“They would not lock you up,” Zeb said. 

“Pretending they didn’t,” Kallus said, “I wouldn’t do as much for them their then where I am now…besides….I just don’t know I can fully support these rebels….”

“Why not?” Zeb snapped. “You’ve seen what the Empire does to people!”

“I can’t forget Onderon,” Kallus exclaimed. “No matter how much I may want to….I can’t.”

Zeb deflated slightly at his words. As much as Zeb hated to admit it, Kallus had a very good reason for distrusting the Rebels. “We wouldn’t do something like that again-“

“Can you guarantee that?” Kallus demanded. “Can you honestly tell me no one in your precious rebellion would ever hurt an innocent person if it meant hurting the Empire?” When Zeb didn’t respond he continued, “The information I give you is information to help those innocent people. I don’t want to join the rebellion but I can’t turn a blind eye to those the Empire hurts. I would drop everything and leave the Empire right now if I thought it would help more people, but it won’t. So I will stay here and do what I can from the inside.” 

“Kallus-“

“Zeb, we don’t have time to argue about this,” Kallus firmly said, holding out the holodisk for Zeb to take. “Please, take this and make sure whoever is in charge see’s the information.” 

A part of him wanted to ignore Kallus, knock him out and make him come with him, but another knew that would be wrong. He couldn’t force Kallus to join, and he knew he could get vital information from the Empire where he was. 

“Alright…” Zeb sighed, taking the disk. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful…”

“I know,” Kallus assured, hand twitching as if to reach out and touch Zeb but he held back. “Make sure that information gets put to good use.”

“I will,” Zeb said. “Thank you, for everything you’re doing.” Kallus smiled softly at Zeb and nodded his head making him pause. He’d never seen Kallus smile like that before, no malice or hatred, only kindness and….affection?

“Specter four what’s taking so long?” Kanan said over the comm shattering the moment.

“Sorry Specter one,” Zeb said into his comm link. “I have the information and am heading back now.”

“Good,” Kanan said. “We’ve got a lot of Imperials wandering a little too close for comfort.”

“Be back soon,” Zeb assured before putting the comm link away and reluctantly turning to the door. 

“Be careful,” Kallus said. 

“You too,” Zeb said before slipping out of the room, Kallus presumably hanging back in order to not draw attention to the fact he was in the same building as Zeb had been in. As Zeb carefully made his way back to the Ghost he could only hope he could explain the new situation to Commander Sato.


End file.
